Hearts
by Knickel-Deal
Summary: I enjoyed it. The one catch was that you had to give it to me willingly. After I won the bet…you know the rest.” Tsuzuki frowned, “but---I don’t.” Muraki smirked. He leaned into Tsuzuki provocatively and whispered into his ear, "I believe you do."
1. The Bet

DISCLAIMER: this was an absolutely amazing inspiration

**DISCLAIMER: this was an absolutely amazing inspiration. If I hadn't been playing Hearts, with the names of some of my most favorite characters, this story would have been still floating in limbo.**

**Fun-ness and humor are bound ensue. KissBot is the phantom fourth player and observer.**

**Hearts**

**By NS**

Does it really matter Hisoka is under twenty-one on the floor? Not really, right? After all, it is a cruise ship and everyone should have tons of fun in uncompromised situations. Or so anyone would think, what with Tzuzuki wanting nothing more than to play a simple game of Hearts. But, in that case, we would have to deprive Muraki of his sadistic fun. How could we do that? And KissBot? Well, KissBot is just your average observer.

To begin the story, KissBot started the entire game. Blame her if you want…or him. KissBot sat down at the table and invited Tzuzuki to join. So, naturally, Tzuzuki pulled Hisoka along for the card game, and when all the cards had been passed out and bets made, Muraki slipped into the fourth and last seat.

Uh oh.

"What is the wager for tonight?" Muraki asks KissBot, but keeps his eyes on Tzuzuki.

"200 each at the conclusion of the game. Would you like to place a wager?" replies KissBot.

"I'd be obliged," Muraki replies. He leans in towards Tzuzuki, "I'd be obliged to wager complete assistance and cooperation in the event of my defeat. And you, your body, Tzuzuki, in the event of your defeat."

Tzuzuki clenches his hands against his chest and stares pass KissBot in terror, but Hisoka gains ground quickly. "Both of us against you. No deals."

"That's fair."

So the games began.

KissBot passes a king of hearts and the jack and ace of clubs to Tzuzuki. In return, KissBot receives the queen of hearts and the ace and queen of spades.

The first hand goes fairly well, with Hisoka in the lead. But the end is a long way away and Muraki is only three points behind. Tzuzuki has two, and KissBot. Wow. This character must there for the sheer promise of drama and entertainment. Tzuzuki is oddly silent.

Cards are passed once again and KissBot receives the queen of spades and nine and ten of hearts from Muraki. The doctor is most definitely not shooting for the moon. Or maybe it's possible such goals would be far too low for someone like him. KissBot begins the game with the two of clubs, but it's too early to tell who's in charge.

**"YES!!"** Tzuzuki jumps out of the chair and throws his fist into the air in victory! The Tzuzuki and Hisoka team are winning! Tzuzuki looks at his teammate in expectation, but all Hisoka can do is ignore the naïve idiot and regroup. It wasn't a good hand after all and fate lay in the palms of our clumsy Tzuzuki. KissBot scored thirty-five points, Hisoka at a whopping twelve, Muraki at three, and Tzuzuki down two points(!!) (But, the audience is secretly hoping Tzuzuki loses.)

With the newest hand, its possible Tzuzuki is aiming high, but will he make it, or fall victim to the mad scientist?

No! IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN HISOKA!! Maybe there's a reason you have to be twenty-one years of age to bet. If teenagers gambled all the time, there'd be no more virgins left in this world. Even KissBot is being mocked by Mr. Muraki. He hardly spares a glance for the by-gambler, but he's just being downright lascivious towards Tzuzuki. KissBot's score remains at thirty-five, Tzuzuki has reached six, and honestly? It's a long run from twelve to thirty-four. Muraki remains the same and best for wear.

Nothing is passed, this next hand. Muraki starts it off nice and slow. His eyes are on his cards for the first time this game has begun. Tzuzuki seems to have a virgin luck, since he's never played Hearts before.

Let's note that Hisoka receives the queen of spades.

The results are in.

KissBot, fourty-six. Tzuzuki, six. Hisoka, fourty-nine. Muraki. Three!! Now would be the perfect time to start panicky. So that's what Tzuzuki decides to do. He bolts for the door at the speed of light, but the whisper of an ant couldn't make it pass Hisoka's ears. He shoves Tzuzuki back into the seat.

On the next hand, Tzuzuki receives the first heart. That means the suit is broken. Lets (not) hope for the best. Its possible Muraki is shooting for something, but, it's most likely not going to be Tzuzuki's butt.

This game is coming to a head. KissBot remains at forty-six with Hisoka jumping to seventy. If Tzuzuki can hold the tie of seven, then, maybe, Hisoka can jump high enough to lose the whole game. Must I add that Muraki is down seven points also?

But--it looks like Tzuzuki's virgin luck has run out.

**NOT!!**

Maybe it's payin' off! Who cares what KissBot and Hisoka scored, Tzuzuki is hangin' on to the monkey bars with fourteen fingers!! Muraki has risen to twenty. Hisoka remains at seventy and KissBot went up to fifty-two.

The next hand is frightful with KissBot and Muraki taking a beating at sixty-seven and twenty-seven. Tzuzuki has eighteen points and Hisoka has lodged himself at seventy.

No cards are passed on the next hand.

Neither does it go very well for our star guest. KissBot receives a score of eighty seven, Tzuzuki hits twenty, Hisoka hits seventy-four, and Muraki is just seven points behind. Nothing to be nervous about, right?

And the winner is…

**Muraki!!**(yes!)

**A/N: I did this story a long while ago and it doesn't even add up to my imagination. I don't particularly like flamers (at all) but I do need some advice on character behavior.**


	2. Leashed

**DISCLAIMER: Well, I read my fanfic again and realized I had a dilemma on my hands: Muraki won the bet. But, since Hearts was a K-K+ fanfic, I should keep any other sequel K too. Greatly limits me, but I think I can pull it off.**

**Hearts II**

**Knickel-Deal**

"I appreciate you honoring our bet, Tsuzuki. The pleasure is all mine and yours to give." Muraki shut the door quietly, and then turned his gaze to Tsuzuki.

"Now, Muraki," Tsuzuki said, "Lets not jump to conclusions. I'm only here for a little bump and go, you know?"

"Nonsense, Tsuzuki," Muraki replied, "A bet is a consensual arrangement. While others can be paid in installments, I think this one must be paid in full." Muraki shrugged out of his dress coat and draped it over the back of the dinning chair.

The room held only one dinning chair, but there were several upholstery chairs. Besides the limited furniture, there was a single queen sized bed draped with heavy violet silk.

Muraki motioned to the draperies, "I always thought violet was your color. What do you think, Tsuzuki? Tsuzuki?"

Tsuzuki was bent nearly double, his hands clasped over his mouth.

"Now there," Muraki went to stand next to Tsuzuki, "the first time is always like this. A deep breath is all you need."

Muraki placed his arm around Tsuzuki's waist and led him to the bed. He sat him down on the edge and gazed intently at his bent head.

"Come now. Surely you're not going to ruin our very first time…"

Tsuzuki raised his tear stained face. His brow was furrowed in disbelief.

"Together," Muraki finished.

Tsuzuki gulped. This was going to be a very long night.

~()~()~

When Tsuzuki awoke the next morning, he was alone. He lifted himself into a sitting position. He wasn't even sore as he usually was in the morning. It was as if something had been stripped from him, a weight taken off of his shoulders. Tsuzuki double checked to make sure nothing was missing. He ran his hands over his chest and face, over his thighs. He checked between his legs. Nothing was missing. Not even a drop of his magic. It was bundled tightly into the center of his soul.

He came to the conclusion that nothing was wrong, but he still felt light and he still couldn't remember what had happened last night. Where was Muraki?

Tsuzuki slipped out of bed and began gathering his clothes. When he picked up his pants from next to the door, he felt in his pocket to make sure that his money was still there. Not that he didn't trust Muraki, he just had to be sure. His hand came into contact with a thin piece of paper. He pulled it out of his pocket and examined it.

The paper said:

_Hope you enjoyed last night. Thank you for all of your entertainment and so much more._

_-Muraki_

Tsuzuki crumpled the note in his hand. If only he could remember what had happened last night.

~()~()~

"Tsuzuki, I need the report from the investigation for the meeting today."

Tzuzuki lifted a packet of papers from his desk and handed it to Tatsumi. "There's the full report."

Tatsumi stared at the shinigami, honestly surprised. He stood there for a few moments, just staring Tsuzuki downturned head. He felt the man sitting in front of him wasn't the one he knew a few weeks ago. This Tsuzuki was…put together.

"…Thank you," Tsuzuki said. He left before Tatsumi gave a reply, but if he had stayed just a moment longer, he would have seen the shadows under Tsuzuki's eyes.

Tsuzuki watched Tatsumi's back recede. He was glad for small miracles; like co-workers that don't meddle as long as they get what they want. He dropped his head down onto the desk, exhaustion wrinkling his face. He didn't know what had happened, but after that night, everything had been going right at work, but wrong too. He couldn't sleep anymore, and whenever he blacked out strange things would play out across his eyelids…

Tsuzuki lifted his head again and tried to concentrate. There were so many deaths to be solved and sorted through. Here, a woman died from mysterious death in Okinawa, and here, a man was unintentionally poisoned in Senegal. Then, another man was murdered in Connecticut and six women hung themselves, together, in Denmark.

Wait. Another death in Connecticut?

Tsuzuki studied the name, and then typed it into the search engine on the Hades' network. His computer hummed for several moments, then everything about Courtney Rodriguez appeared before his eyes. He died from mysterious death too, but this was the seventeenth man to die from such a death in the little town of New London with little more than twenty-thousand residents. This death, and the others, couldn't be just a coincidence. Tsuzuki typed up a report of his pre-investigation, then printed the report, placed it in a manila folder, and placed it under his arm.

He was on his way to Chief Kenoe's office.

~()~()~

"Tsuzuki, do you know the death rate of this town?"

"Yes!" Tsuzuki snapped at Tatsumi. "Yes," he said calmier to the chief, "I know the death rate there is very high, but I'm positive that these deaths aren't a coincidence."

"And let me guess," said Tatsumi sarcastically, "Muraki is behind it."

Tsuzuki ignored Tatsumi. Instead his said, "Chief Kenoe, whoever it is, is mass producing corpses."

Chief Kenoe leaned forward onto his desk, "our jurisdiction doesn't reach all the way to the Americas. We leave that to the people who do."

"We do," said Tsuzuki, "the last man to die was a man by the name of Courtney Rodriguez, under the protection of Joan Petes.

Tatsumi gasped, "Her soul was banished back to Hades this morning. And according to The Commandments…"

"Shinigami from other jurisdictions are allowed to interfere per request of the Hakushaku."

Tatsumi scowled.

~()~()~

"Tsuzuki, I greatly discourage you from going on this mission. There are other shinigami assigned to New London; let them investigate the deaths." Hakushaku, more commonly known as the Count, swirled the wine in his glass, "I fear for your safety. But! Won't you drink a glass of wine with me?"

_**"No, You Pervert!"**_ Tsuzuki's shout threw the Count through the wall and into the horizon. A star winked into existence.

Tsuzuki tucked the Count's consent inside his coat, "time to go, Gushoshin."

"Yes, Tsuzuki-san, but shouldn't we wait for Kurosaki-san?"

"No need," said Tsuzuki.

"Ah?" Gushoshin gasped.

"This," the shinigami patted his coat pocket, "permits only me to go to New London. I'll write him a letter, explaining everything later." Tsuzuki turned and exited the manor house with Gushoshin, still gasping, but close at his heels.

"Oh, Kurosaki-san," Gushoshin mumbled, "_Hurry._"

**Author's Note:**** I hope that wasn't a cliff hanger, but I felt Hearts II was way overdue. But, now you know there'll be a third installment; hopefully. Depends on how motivated I am…**


	3. The Cafe

"_This," the shinigami patted his coat pocket, "permits only me to go to New London. I'll write him a letter, explaining everything later." Tsuzuki turned and exited the manor house with Gushoshin, still gasping, but close at his heels._

_"Oh, Kurosaki-san," Gushoshin mumbled,_ "Hurry."

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

_Dear Hisoka,_

_I have meant to tell you this face to face, but the circumstances don't permit it. I am in North America by now, so do not come after me. I have told no what had happened on the cruise, and just in case know that I don't hold any grudge against you. That night, Muraki had somehow bound my powers within me without me knowing and you of all people know how useless I am without my powers, heh heh. Anyways, I must confront him and discover the price of them and what motive Muraki could possibly have in North America._

_I wish you the best of luck Hisoka, and hope to see you again in the future._

_Tsuzuki Asato_

Hisoka read the letter once over, and then one more time just to make sure that he didn't misread anything in the letter. Tsuzuki said, quite clearly, that he was going to North America. If only he had slipped, and mistakenly left a clue of his exact location. Could it even be possible he could use his ability to locate Tsuzuki? Or was there a spell he could use?

Hisoka tucked the letter into his pocket neatly. All that day, and the next, he went through the motions of working, trying to think of some way he could figure out where Tsuzuki could have possibly sent the letter from. There had to be a way to find a person under a classified alias; and surely Chief Kenoe wouldn't let Tsuzuki leave without Hisoka? They were a team. As hard as it was to admit, Hisoka was sure they were like…peanut butter and jelly is how Americans would put it.

Hisoka was sure now that Tsuzuki didn't want to be found either. None of the books he read held spell for finding a person without a remnant of their physical being. The words in the letter were Tsuzuki's, but no one could have written it because nothing had a connection to it. To this day, Tsuzuki apparent intelligence sends him reeling sometimes, and not in a good way. Every time Tsuzuki used a smidgeon of his brain, it meant that there was something really wrong. Really wrong.

X_X_X

Hisoka was in Watari's lab when he knew exactly what to do. He didn't know why he never thought of it before. Watari was performing, yet again, the essence tracking spell, which, if Tsuzuki had written the letter himself, would have led Hisoka directly to him. Hisoka theorized that if he could sense Tsuzuki's emotions when he wrote the letter, then maybe they'd come up with something.

The door opened suddenly, and Hisoka felt his chest clench. Looking over Watari's shoulder he saw Tatsumi hesitate for a fraction of a second; but _why would Tatsumi be nervous?_

"Not now," Watari said, "Hisoka-chan and I are busy."

Tatsumi stepped up to a table and placed a folder of documents on top. Then he said something Hisoka didn't think Tatsumi would say. "You won't find him."

Watari snapped his head up. Hisoka's jaw was frozen shut.

"Momo Voravuta. Our contact says Kazutaka Muraki is hiding him." Watari nodded, and Tatsumi left.

But, Hisoka knew now, what he had to do. Hisoka had to go after him, and get Tsuzuki's whereabouts out of him. If only he could read thoughts instead of emotions.

Watari went back to the spell, but Hisoka excused himself and left. His mind was racing. Now that he knew how to locate Tsuzuki, he couldn't stand still and do nothing. He _must_ act.

X_X_X

Conference Room

"This week Saya and Yuma are going to be our resident shinigami this week," Chief Kenoe nodded to the two shinigami women, "As they have never resided with us before, I want Hisoka Kurosaki to give them the official tour, and—,"

"But!"

"AND, accompany them to their errands."

"Chief," Hisoka protested, "I have case work that's overdue."

"No he doesn't," Tatsumi countered, "he's just trying to find Tsuzuki, and Watari is helping him."

Everyone around the table fell silent. Eyes moved between the Chief, Hisoka, Watari, and Tsuzuki.

"How do you know this, Tatsumi?" Chief Kenoe asked.

"I say Hisoka-san and Watari-san performing a tracking spell in the lab when I walked in to give Watari-san the files he had requested."

"But we could have been tracking anything!" Hisoka slammed his fist on the table.

"I heard you whispering about America before I entered," Tatsumi replied coolly.

"That's not true!"

Tatsumi turned to Chief Kenoe, clearly expecting some sort of judgment to be passed. Chief Kenoe massaged his temples, and then looked at his subordinates. He said, "I will deal with this Tsuzuki business later. Right now there's some dead body business that needs to be dealt with." And that was the end of it.

Hisoka half listened to the different cases. None were given to him, so apparently Saya and Yuma were there to replace he and Tsuzuki. His chest clenched at the thought. Why did Tsuzuki go to America without him? He would be a sitting duck against Muraki if they ever crossed paths. Hisoka needed to find Tsuzuki quick, or section protocol would be the least of their worries.

X_X_X

After Conference; Chief Kenoe's office

Hisoka and Watari stood before Chief Kenoe's desk. They stood straight as flag poles, their faces devoid of emotion. They knew that there was every chance their shinigami powers would be stripped from them, and that their souls would be laid to rest. Neither Hisoka, nor Watari wanted anything like that to happen. They had too many answers resting on their work as shinigamis.

The door opened and Chief Kenoe appeared in front of them---with someone else.

The Count.

X_X_X

New London

Tsuzuki's breathe rose and obscured his sight for odd moments. The cold bit his nose, and scraped across his cheeks. He couldn't feel his toes. Like every small town on the map, no one ever told you if there was something you had to take with you to survive. For this town it was a thick coat, scarf, ear muffs, and boots. As unnaturally unnatural as it was, winter norm for this town was a temperature in the negative C's. In Tsuzuki's opinion, the tour pamphlet should have had a warning label slapped on the front. The shinigami couldn't think of anyone who would want to vacation in this cold little town. Except for Muraki.

Tsuzuki reached the intersection of State and Bank, and turned left onto Bank Street. The sidewalks were narrow on both sides, and the historic buildings rose up like little Hisokas, ready to berate him for going after Muraki by himself. Tsuzuki pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He had more important things to turn his attention to; like the little corner deli across the street, and the coffee shop not farther down with all the cakes displayed in the window. Maybe this town wasn't so bad after all, concluded Tsuzuki, and crossed the street to the coffee shop.

The interior of the coffee shop was stifling and smelled strongly of roasting coffee beans and cake batter; certainly a very nice smell. The place had a surreal quality to it, and everywhere Tsuzuki looked, it felt like he was looking through a veil he didn't know he was wearing. Time was of no relevance here, Tsuzuki concluded; the two substances to survive existed in this single, beautiful place.

"…Coffee and cake! Come get your coffee and cake!"

Tsuzuki swung his gaze to the man behind the counter. He was a tall and lanky man, with grey hair, yet he was young. His steely blue eye's glittered with the richness of innocence but in no way did they give him an evil appearance.

Tsuzuki approached the counter; he resolved to buy three slices of angel food cake, one loaf of coffee cake, one slice of double chocolate brownie mousse cake, and no more. The young teller smiled and retrieved Tsuzuki's order. Tsuzuki paid for the cakes and slipped the bag on to his arm. When he looked up he saw another slice of angel food cake on a plate, ready to be eaten.

"It's on the house," the clerk said.

Tsuzuki's eyes lit up and he smiled, "Thank you!" He took the plate and carried it to the back of the café. He sat at the bay window, and watched the ocean moved as he ate his cake piece by piece. Such an amazing force of nature…

"Beautiful view; an amazing force of nature, water is."

Tsuzuki froze and glanced to his left. There _he_ sat nonchalantly. Muraki shifted his gaze.

"Don't you think so, Tsuzuki-san?"

Tsuzuki's first instinct was to get up and run, then get up and prepare to fight, then he remembered why he was halfway across the world in the first place: the have cake and tea with this demon and discuss the wondrous qualities of the oceans. Not!

"How did you find me?" Tsuzuki asked.

Muraki smirked, "come now. Certainly you have a much more important question to ask me…like…"

"What did you do to me?" Tsuzuki finally asked.

Muraki didn't answer immediately. He sat forward in his chair, placed his elbows on his knees, and steeple his fingers under his chin. For an odd moment Tsuzuki saw what Muraki would look like if he wasn't an evil doctor; quite beautiful actually, even with his mechanical, mismatched eye. Then the spell broke, and Muraki looked like his evil, conniving, manipulative, bastard self again.

"I didn't think you'd ask that question either," Muraki said, "ask me something else."

"No," Tsuzuki replied, "tell me how you took my power."

Muraki looked at the shinigami, and then laughed. It was a mirthless laugh that filled the entire café with a relentless chill. The place lost its surreal quality, and Tsuzuki shivered.

"Do you really want to know? I promise you won't like the answer. Answers can be a bane, you know," When Tsuzuki didn't decline, Muraki continued, "several months back; I came upon an old acquaintance of mine. He owed me a few favors and at the time I knew that I was about to take a cruise and would need his assistance. Now that you've succumbed to a mere bet, Tsuzuki, I can say with pride that I never thought I could beat you on the _Elizabeth_. My acquaintance told me that if I somehow acquired some of your existence I could possess a certain power over you. Who knew I'd enjoy it this much? The one catch was that you had to give it to me willingly, and that was the hardest part of the plan. After I won the bet…you know the rest."

Tsuzuki frowned, "but---I don't."

Muraki smirked. He leaned into Tsuzuki provocatively and whispered in his ear. Tsuzuki's eyes widened; he couldn't breathe.

**A/N: Finally…the good stuff! This story is almost over, I've gotten to the '**_**how**_**' Muraki got Tsuzuki's powers; now I'll just let you guys simmer in your theories…see you soon! .**


	4. Momo Voravuta: The Link in the Chain

**A/N: WARNING! There is some vulgar language in this chapter, so be forewarned. It's only at the beginning of Hisoka's part, when a new character is introduced, but it's very slight.**

* * *

"_Who knew I'd enjoy it this much? The one catch was that you had to give it to me willingly, and that was the hardest part of the plan. After I won the bet…you know the rest."_

_Tsuzuki frowned, "but---I don't."_

_Muraki smirked. He leaned into Tsuzuki provocatively and whispered in his ear. Tsuzuki's eyes widened; he couldn't breathe._

* * *

On the way back to the hotel, Tsuzuki thought of what Muraki told him. Before now, before he met Muraki, even before he died, he couldn't ever imagine something like that happening to him, or even someone wanting to do _that_ to him. It was just so abnormal…so disgusting.

He wished Hisoka were here.

Tsuzuki turned down Union Street, heading for the hotel he was staying at. It wasn't very far from the little café and it wouldn't be very hard for Muraki to find, but that was the only hotel in town; except for the bed and breakfast five minutes away, but that smelled like burnt coffee and wet dog. The Radisson smelled like the peppermints they had everywhere.

Tsuzuki shook his head; mind off of sweets, on task. There were a few things he had to investigate before he could make any solid conclusions.

The good thing about New London was that it was a little town surrounded by many magical places. There were many art galleries and cafés, little delis and high fashion boutiques, performing arts theatres and---best of all---book stores with extensive literature you couldn't find anywhere else. He just had to find them.

­­­­­­­­­­Tsuzuki entered the hotel and headed straight for the reception desk. No one was attending it so he rung the bell twice.

"One moment," said a voice under the desk. Tsuzuki frowned. The receptionist bumped their head on the underside of the desk, moaned, and then appeared. She was a little petite thing with a big fat, friendly smile, "How may I help you, Tsuzuki-san?"

_What?!_ Tsuzuki flinched. "How do you know my name?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh!" wide went her big brown eyes, "I remembered your name when you first checked in."

"I didn't see you…you weren't there."

"I saw you!" Big smile, "It's not often we get foreign guests. It's very exciting. But, I apologize for scaring you, Tsuzuki-san---is that right? ---any guest at the Radisson Hotel is a _very important_ guest. Especially one that can wield o-fuda, but I very much prefer the one in Niantic. It's called The Book Barn. It's _huge_. They sell used books but since you're looking for a rare copy they should have it. They might even have a book on the history of New London or about the power of the 12 shikigami. After that you can have coffee at this old lady's house. She sells it through her window, but its delicious stuff. Here are the directions to both places."

Tsuzuki was speechless. This girl was sending him for a loop; one who can wield o-fuda; the shikigami? _What?_ But, her eyes were normal, no dilation. She didn't even smell funny; she couldn't be hypnotized…

"Who _are you?_"

"Um…My name is Barbara!"

_"No, _NO! You don't have to keep your cover. I'm a shinigami from Nagasaki. I'm conducting an investigation here in Connecticut. Can you help me?"

"Umm…" she said again, "we sell souvenirs at the gift shop…"

Tsuzuki frowned. What was this girl playing at, he couldn't figure it out. He looked at the yellow slip of paper she held out to him, then back to her eyes. Maybe he was hallucinating… "Thank you," he said, took the directions, and got out of that hotel as fast as he could.

X_X_X

"That man! Said that no one would ever be able to find me! How should I know where your little pu'y dog went off to? You should have kept a tight leash on 'im in the first place!"

Momo Voravuta went on and on. He ranted and raved about the crazy hack of a doctor. The man was insane, he reeked of blood, his feet stank, and he was too pale! Wherever he was he hoped it was hell! He hoped his cojones would freeze and fall off!

"He swore on his life's blood that no one would find me, even if I stepped into the damn police station and stripped down to my hairy handles."

"What were you hiding from?" Hisoka asked. He wasn't for tactic today and Voravuta's anger didn't make his mood any better.

"Not 'what;' 'who;' and that's none of your darn business."

"I think it is, since I know where you are."  
"What are you going to do? Arrest me? I'll only post bail!"

"Trust me, Mr. Voravuta, you wouldn't be able to post bond at where I would take you." Hisoka stared Voravuta down until the man sighed, resignation seeping into ever muscle of his body.

"I give up. I'm tired," Voravuta sighed again, "I know what you are, Kurosaki-san…I know who you are."

Hisoka became ram rod straight on his feet.

"Your Tsuzuki-san's partner and Tsuzuki-san warned me again and again that if I continued to do what I was doing, then it would come back to bite me. Indeed, it has."

"What are you talking about?" Hisoka asked, "What is this about Tsuzuki?"

Voravuta looked at Hisoka in surprise, "you don't know? I thought he would have told you---maybe not about me---but about _him_. I don't know…" Voravuta looked into Hisoka's glaring eyes, "I have to start a few years back, to when I first met Tsuzuki-san…

_"When I first met Tsuzuki-san, it was a complete coincidence. He wasn't looking for me at all and wouldn't have if I had kept my big mouth shut._

_"At the time, I owned an independent shop, working as a cover for what I really sold there. See, I was in the black market business, magical items and things. What's worse, I sold to anyone who named the right price; _Anyone._ Even mortals. They were the best buyers of them all. What did I care if they got killed somewhere along the line 'cus they didn't use their merch' right?_

_"Anyways, he came up into my shop, all innocent. 'e was looking for a pastry dish I had displayed in the window. Just happened to ask to buy it, but the way he asked was the password to a special object I had. I mean really special, 'cus that thing was expensive as who knew what. It was pretty hard to come by too, so I was surprised when this pretty guy walked right into my shop and asked for it. "Bold" was what I thought, because he wasn't trying to hide his face at all._

_"When I brought it out, the object, he took one look at it and turned white. I thought he was sick but when he asked me if I was a black market dealer I knew I was in deep. Figured he really was talking about buying the pastry dish... He bought it from me anyway and said that if I kept doing what I was doing it'd bite me in the butt later…"_

"What was it that he bought?" Hisoka asked.

Voravuta paused, "The Anima Charm."

Hisoka frowned.

_"That Anima Charm has the ability to hold anyone's soul for an indefinite time. There are Anima Charms that have held _living_ souls for thousands of years. The hard part is getting inside to communicate with them. Even harder than that, is controlling them._

_"See, when a soul is bound in an Anima Charm they become suspended, like in a worm hole while the body is completely operational; its soul is just in another place. It's hard to explain, but the point is that anyone can control the world if he has enough Anima Charms. It's fairly easy to place a soul in an Anima Charm. Just take a drop of their blood and boil it, and the charm, in a vat of pig's urine._

_"I'm sure you're wondering 'what does this have to do with Tsuzuki-san.' Well, a couple of months later Muraki came to me with the same charm that Tsuzuki-san bought. I didn't question how he got it; didn't matter to me. Everything was all about money; 'cept when Muraki came back to me a couple days later. Said a whole bunch o' people would start looking for me and…I had to go into hiding for both of our safety..."_

Hisoka frowned, "I still don't understand how the Anima Charm has any relevance to me or Tsuzuki."

Voravuta looked at Hisoka, exasperated, "Tsuzuki's soul is in the Anima Charm."

* * *

**A/N**: I must cut it off there. I hope it's not a cliffhanger…or maybe I do…Anyways, **this is for you,** Nagaku Tsuzuku Yami**!** It usually takes me weeks to write and upload each chappy, but here is the fourth! A few more to go! There's not going to be a sequel, but I'm a little sad that the story is almost over. (sigh) Well, lots-a-luv for sticking through to the end, everyone!


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